(G)I-DLE’s Shuhua Gets “Mocked” On Radio Show… Host Apologizes To Outraged Fans
On August 6, (G)I-DLE graced the radio program Cultwo Show…
… where Shuhua shared a cute story about how she had good spicy chicken at a convenience store.
While describing what she had, Shuhua ended up mispronouncing the Korean word dakdari (drumstick)…
우기슈화가 같이 편의점에 갔는데 알고보니 편의점 알바생이 네버랜드셨고… 슈화가 치킨 맛있게 먹었다네요 pic.twitter.com/1AqJEQfIMo
— 수서 (@Shu_OoO_) August 6, 2020
… and one of the show hosts, comedian Kim Tae Kyun, imitated the mispronunciation.
(G)I-DLE fans found the host’s behavior to be extremely rude.
She’s not Korean. Her Korean is not perfect. Why is he mocking her and making fun of her when she’s trying to learn and improve?
— Fan
Kim Tae Gyun later took to his Instagram and apologized for his actions. He claimed that he unintentionally imitated Shuhua because he found her accent cute. In addition to the Instagram update, he shared that he got in touch with Shuhua and apologized personally as well.
Last week on August 6, during the live interview with (G)I-DLE, I imitated a foreigner member’s Korean accent and I apologize to (G)I-DLE fans and everyone else offended for that. I had no intention of mocking her. I simply found her accent adorable and imitated it because I liked how hard she was trying to make it work. I understand that it made people uncomfortable though. I’ve reached out to Shuhua and apologized for my action. In addition, I wanted to apologize to the public too. I will strive to become a better host who is considerate of the guests. Thank you for reading.
— Kim Tae Kyun
With that said, K-Pop fans remain actively discussing xenophobia in the Korean entertainment industry — and how it must come to a stop.
- “Yes, this is f*cking rude. Non Summit used to do this too. And I always thought they’re ridiculous for doing so…”
- “Seriously, this has to stop. Running Man makes fun of Jessi’s accent a lot too. Jessi is Korean and maybe it’s not exactly the same… but in general, we need to stop mocking each other’s accents.”
- “You know, I have a regional dialect. And when Seoul folks make fun of it or try to imitate it, I get offended. They say they do it because it’s cute, but that doesn’t matter. It’s offensive to me.”
- “My bias is from another country too. Back in 2016, on that very radio show, he/she got mocked by the hosts the same way too. I didn’t think they’d ever apologize… But I guess it’s a positive thing that they’re finally learning and apologizing.”
- “My bias once said he/she doesn’t feel comfortable speaking in Korean anymore because of this. I really hope the xenophobia stops.”
- “I don’t really know much about idols so I didn’t know this is an on-going issue. At least he’s being a responsible adult about it — admitting his fault and apologizing about it.”
- “I can’t believe people still do this… This has been proved problematic for ages now.”
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